As Keeath Magee got ready to walk out to practice on Wednesday, his voice didn't sound like one that was the head coach of an 0-2 team.

To Magee, Ozen has faced one of the toughest non-district schedules in the area, which will conclude this Saturday when the Panthers travel up to Dallas to play Cedar Hill, the No. 10 ranked team in 5A.

Although the results have not necessarily been what Magee has desired, he can see improvement.

"We did a lot of things better against Port Arthur (Memorial) than we did the first week," Magee said. "We did some things worse. Defensively, we made some tremendous strides. We created turnovers and we moved the ball. We just shot ourselves in the foot."

The defensive improvement was apparent as Ozen limited Port Arthur Memorial to 240 yards of offense and 62 yards rushing. They also intercepted two Memorial passes. All of this was without cornerback Tony Brown, who missed the game with a left ankle injury.

Brown's status for Saturday's game is unknown, but Magee said that the senior was still in a walking boot as of Wednesday.

Offensively, Ozen did not score against Memorial and was not nearly as effective yardage-wise. Quarterback Javaris Curl has been the best offensive player so far this season with 397 yards of total offense.

Magee believes that the road trip to Dallas will also pay dividends for the team, who made the same trip last season to play eventual Class 3A-DI state champions Stephenville, a game Ozen lost 31-6.

"We're going to be away from campus for two days playing some of the best opposition that you could possibly line up against and play," Magee said. "This is almost like an opportunity to play three playoff games where you'd love to win, but the (losses) don't say you're done and you have to pack up (for the season)."

No matter what happens on Saturday, Magee believes his team will be all the better for it going into its bye week and district play after that.

"We played a West Brook that is 2-0, we've played a Port Arthur Memorial team that's a play or two away from possibly being 2-0," Magee. "Now we're going to play the No. 10 ranked team in the state. If we can take the same intensity from last week into the game against Cedar Hill and continue to improve, I think it will bode well for us in district."